| Long John Silver | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Byron Haskin |
| Produced by | Joe Kaufmann Mark Evans |
| Written by | Martin Rackin |
| Based on | characters created by by Robert Louis Stevenson |
| Starring | Robert Newton Rod Taylor |
| Music by | David Buttolph |
| Cinematography | Carl E. Guthrie |
| Editing by | Manuel del Campo |
| Distributed by | Treasure Island Pictures Pty. Ltd. Distributors Corporation of America |
| Release date(s) | 1954 16 December 1954 (Australia)[1] 17 December 1954 (UK)[2] 21 December 1954 (USA)[3][4] |
| Running time | 106 minutes |
| Country | United States Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$ 1,000,000 [5] |
Long John Silver is a 1954 United States film production made in Australia about the eponymous pirate from Treasure Island, starring Robert Newton as Silver and Rod Taylor as Israel Hands.
It was shot in colour at the Pagewood Studios, Sydney, and the same company went on to make a 26 episode TV series with the same actors, called The Adventures of Long John Silver. The director, Byron Haskin, had directed Treasure Island in 1950, with Newton as Silver.
Long John Silver should not be confused with the 1954 American film, Return to Treasure Island, starring Tab Hunter and Dawn Addams.
Contents |
Long John receives grave news from Dod Perch of a massacre from Mendoza who in the process kidnapped Governor Strong's daughter Elizabeth for ransom along with Jim Hawkins. There is also a second treasure cache on the Treasure Island directed only by a pirate medallion. Long John visits Governor Strong and his wife to propose to give in the ransom before they pursue Mendoza.
During the pickup of the ransom, Long John goes with Billy Bowlegs to Mendoza's ship with an explanation that Billy shot his two partners to hoard the ransom money for himself. Long John invited on the ship briefs a plan to Mendoza to leave Elizabeth on shore and mislead the Governor's warships in order to sack the king's warehouses. As Mendoza carries out the plan, Long John finds Jim possesses the very medallion of Treasure Island. As Mendoza begins to double cross Long John, he in turn summons his men to ambush and capture Mendoza along with the warehouse fortune, whilst Jim and Elizabeth make their escape.
Back at the governor's Jim is offered the chance to go back to England, but Long John has plans to take Jim with him on the second voyage for Treasure Island. Long John seizes an opportunity to charter Captain MacDougall's ship for the voyage. Long John sets off missing Purity Pinker's hand in marriage and barely escaping the alert local sentries.
Long John plots to start a mutiny on Captain MacDougall and take over his ship. MacDougall in response plans to have Long John and his men marooned on an island which is the secret hideout of Mendoza. Jim sets fire to Mendoza's warehouse so that Long John and his crew can capture Mendoza's ship. As Long John sails for Treasure Island, Mendoza awaits his next ship.
Once on Treasure Island, Long John and his men take shelter in the stockade from Israel Hands, who survived Jim's shot some time ago, but is blind. Israel keeps Long John and his men trapped, killing them a few at a time. Soon Mendoza's men arrive and Israel offers service to Long John, in return for a passage to Cornwall and vengeance against Jim. After fleeing, Mendoza burns down the stockade.
Long John follows the trail of the map to the caves where the treasure is buried. Israel tries to kill Jim, but Jim leads him to the coast where he plunges off to his death. As Jim heads back to the caves, he taken by Mendoza, who is going to use him as bait to get Long John, but Long John surrenders to Mendoza, giving his men the opportunity to make a gunpowder attack, cutting down Mendoza's forces and leaving the rest marooned. Long John returns as an honourable citizen, but he and Jim ride off.
The film was shot in and around Sydney during 1954. Most of the filming was done at Pagewood Studios, where large sets were built representing a pirate ship, seaport and waterfront street. The filmmakers also constructed a galleon on a barge at Botany Bay, and filmed a sea battle between six foot model ships in Port Hacking. Other locations used included the Jenolan Caves (standing in for the caves on Treasure Island), Garie Beach, south of National Park (as the coast of Puerto Bello) and the town of Waterfall (substituting for Treasure Island).[6] Production began on May 3 1954[7] and shooting lasted for 63 working days[8].
The film was produced by Treasure Island Pictures Pty. Ltd. The company's dominant shareholder and fanancier was Joseph Kaufman. The minor shareholders were director Byron Haskin, writer Martin Rackin and star Robert Newton.[9] The producer choose Australia to film, rather than Egypt, as a number of other films had been successfully made in Australia to reduce production costs, which was a common practice in the 1950s for US and British films as the Australian crews spoke English[10]. Part of the funding from the film came from notorious Wall Street financier Louis Wolfson. Byron Haskin alleged producer Joseph Kaufman ran out of money during production, making shooting extremely difficult.[11]
Byron Haskin had experience working with Australians on His Majesty O'Keefe (1953) and cast several actors from that film, including Grant Taylor, Muriel Steinbeck and Guy Doleman. Doleman was selected to play Israel Hands but refused to grow a beard and wear contact lenses which were required for the part. He dropped out and Rod Taylor stepped in instead.[12]
In 1982, US copyright registration for this film (registration number LP4657) was due for renewal in order for the copyright to extend beyond the initial 28 year copyright term. As no renewal application was lodged with the Copyright Office by 31 December 1982[13], the film entered the public domain in the US on 1 January 1983.
In 1995, the United States' Uruguay Round Agreements Act restored the copyrights to certain foreign works where copyright had lapsed due to non-compliance with the formalities of US copyright law, such as the inclusion of a copyright notice, copyright registration and renewal. In 2004, copyright claimant Kim Newton lodged a copyright restoration registration under the URAA [14]. In order to qualify for copyright restoration under URAA a work must meet the following requirements:
1. The work is not in the public domain in its source country through expiration of the term of protection.
2. The work is in the public domain in the United States due to:
a. noncompliance with U.S. copyright formalities;
b. lack of subject matter protection in the case of sound recordings fixed
before February 15, 1972; or
c. lack of national eligibility.
3 The work has at least one author (or rightholder in the case of sound recordings) who was, at the time the work was created,
a national or domiciliary of an eligible country.
4 If published, the work was first published in an eligible country and was not published in the United States during the 30-day
period following publication in the eligible country. [15]
As such, the film failed to qualify for copyright restoration.
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||